Doctor Schroeder found that waiting for the hatching of the part-kirin foals, as he and the rest of the crew had come to think of them, to be quite exciting. It wasn't everyday that you had an entire group of godlike guardians aboard your ship. Well… actually, with the Destiny, it was everyday that you had deities and deity-like creatures around, when there were godlings like Aki and Dark making frequent visits (although Dark hadn't been seen since Dread's clutch, where Schroeder had put his foot in his mouth and hurt her feelings) but Schroeder had never worked with undiluted, divine genetics before, and it was really an honor to have done so.
Candidates had come from far and wide, but in the end, only two dozen had been judged to be of caliber enough to stand. This included a large group who had been sought out by Yulaan's siblings, who were all present and watching--if invisibly. No mortal eyes could see or sense them, but Schroeder knew they certainly wouldn't miss the very first--and likely last--time any one of their number had parented offspring.
The little hybrids were both adorable and amusing when they finally began to break free of their eggs, battering the shells with tiny hooves and knobby horns. Long of limb and neck, the hatchlings really were worthy of the name "foal" as they wobbled and tottered on their thin, fragile legs.
Their slender bodies were almost entirely scaled. The hair upon their bodies was restricted to the mane, tail, featherings at the elbows and above all four hooves, and lining their large, mobile ears. Their wings were feathered along the arm, but the rest was entirely the glassy, somewhat insect-like structures that were noted feature of their whorling parent, Tenshaku. Tiny gems lined their cheekbones and tails, and trios of horn-nubs sat on their heads--two behind the ears, and one on the brow, promising to grow into the sweeping unicorn of a kirin.
A brown-marked red was the first to figure out his footing, and he went frisking towards the candidates, ears perked happily. Schroeder watched closely--like the last clutch, these newborns had Wris'Talora genetics in them and thus the possibility to soul-bond via biting their chosen. Without the absolute bonding instinct of and Old-World's genetics, however, nobody was sure if they would all bite. Anei'Ranbu, the firstborn, had, so all the candidates had been warned of the possibility in advance, but it remained to be seen how many of Anei's siblings would actually bite.
This one, at least, held up the tradition. The red colt set a soul-deep bond with Angel McKracken with a quick nip of her hand before exclaiming, "I can't wait to see you shift! I bet that's so cool! I'm Beni'Zettou Taelaan, and 'Taelaan' means 'beloved son' because Daddy Yulaan loves me!"
A little filly pranced to the candidates next, her scales shining like golden coins until the sticky egg-fluid that coated her and slicked down her pure white hair. Her silver hooves carried her straight to the dragoness who had become something of a regular around the Destiny: Jidka'Tamkah. Her teeth went soul-seeking as well, and she didn't even blink as she looked up at the eye-blinding dragoness, merrily dancing in place.
"My name's Kinmuku'Iwa Taelaanaa and you and me are gonna have lotsa adventures together!"
Another filly worked her way over to the large group of candidates who had all been hand-picked by Yulaan's siblings. She was white with dark grey hair and pale blue markings, and hooves that flashed gold as she stepped her way across the mossy turf of the bay. Her dark eyes roved back and forth before finally settling on Shiru. The little foal approached the towering Malakym without fear, nipping a hand that was almost as pale as she was before nuzzling it lovingly.
"Now I'll always be here for you," said Aojiroi'Kyoukan.
It seemed the females were the decisive ones today, for yet another female trotted out, clearly homing in on the anthro xeno-cat Darkess--and for a moment, Schroeder's excitement about the hatching turned to concern. Darkess had acid for blood. If the foal had to bite….
…and for a moment his mind picked up on a rush of anxious worry coming from somewhere out in the audience…
…but the purple filly only butted her head against the young hybrid with a grin and a flick of her black-tufted tail. "Murasaki'Shinjiru, at'cher service!"
Schroeder let out a breath he'd been holding, sighing in relief. A foal getting a mouthful of acid blood was the last thing he'd wanted to see.
A green filly paced her way over, and she too did not look to bite when she finally found Grey among the candidates. "I don't wanna turn into a wolf, too!" Aomi'Kasui confided. "Not that there's anything wrong with wolfies. I just don't wanna be one!"
A silver filly with rainbow eyes and hair like spun gold approached the kirin-picked group of candidates at a sedate pace, and stepped close to the Lunari Sahfi. "I think you're perfect," Hoshi'Ginsei confided.
On her tail was a copper colt who stopped beside Kirik, the Sahganti Spider Child. His name was Kinsha'Atsusa. "Can I be a Tainted Hunter, too?"
Three of the candidates present were those holy, lion-like creatures called Supernals, and two of them were brothers, standing close together, though you wouldn't have known them to be related by looks alone. One of them was in human form, clad in white with pale skin and white hair, while the other was lion-shaped and possessing entirely natural, tawny brown colors.
Both would have made fine bonders for the foals, but only one leggy little hatchling trotted their way. The colt was very plain, with ash-grey scales, hair of a deeper grey shade, and silver hooves. His only real color was the pale blue of his gems, the yellow-pinks of his lacy "feathers", and the crimson of his eyes, which looked back and forth between the brothers as their bearer tried to come to a decision.
It finally boiled down to one simple fact: Haiiro'Hiwatari didn't like the idea of getting a mouthful of fur! Thus it was Torshael Peregrin that he trotted to and bit the hand of, finally giving the Favored Supernal the bond he had so hoped for. Hopefully little Haiiro would satisfy his expectations.
One of the women on the stands was already bonded and came seeking another, with the wholehearted approval of his first bond, a striking, feathered beauty that watched the foals with interest.
A rich blue filly went capering their way, her violet eyes bright and curious as she kicked up her golden hooves and trotted across the moss. "You're pretty," Tamashii'Otsuki cooed up at the cobalt-marked dragoness, before turning her attention back on Mirage. Just before nipping the woman's finger, she added, "and even if you had to hide from the others, you're not hiding from me, so I understand!"
Two foals, a colt and a filly, headed the way of the other Supernal standing on the moss, who stood alongside his younger, non-Supernal charge. The colt was a pale blue color, while the filly was white.
The colt went straight for Azirahael, tossing his sea-green mane. "My name's Soukai'Shishi!" he exclaimed, after taking a nip of the Supernal's paw.
"And I'm Seika'Kajitsu," added the filly, though she had not chosen to bite R'zaliaaw's hand.
"We wanna go traveling, too!" grinned Soukai.
"Sounds fun!" agreed Seika.
Another batch of foals found their way to the candidates their aunts and uncles had brought in.
A gold colt came to stand beside Tanah, doing a happy little curvet and kicking up his crimson fetlocks. "Wherever you wander, I'll be right there with you!" said Kiiro'Arashi.
Bahari found herself receiving a nip from an indigo-scaled filly. "I don't think I'll ever learn to swim very well," mused Shinkara'Gaiyou, examining her thin legs and hooves, "but will you try to teach me, anyway?"
The third was another colt, brown of scale, who took a stand by the finger-nipped Gora with his head raised proudly. His name was Eiyo'Doushi, and he didn't need words to convey his pride in his choice.
A black filly had given up on examining the candidate-cluster, and had her head turned up to the audience stands in such a way that what came next didn't surprise the doctor at all. The filly gave a delighted whinny and attempted to climb the staircase the catwalks and stands to the bay floor, wobbling a bit on her golden hooves as she tried to figure out the mechanics of climbing.
"Nyera! Nyera, come down!" called the foal, managing a single step at a time. "Your Anshoku'Hyouzou needs you!"
Schroeder smiled as he saw an auburn-haired women pop up out of her seat and hurry along the row she'd been seated in, to meet the foal on the staircase. He would never cease to be amazed--and amused--by a youngling's ability to find exactly who they needed, no matter where they were among the many who came to watch a hatching.
The man called Ferion Teliko was at last approached by a colt whose silver scales were so pale as to be almost white. Green hair and markings offset the pale color nicely.
"I like what I see in your heart, 'Rion'," smiled the little colt, brown eyes shining. "I'm Jitsu'Ginrei."
The last three foals went the way many of their siblings had: off to the group brought by the other Guardian Kirin. It seemed not a one of those hand-picked individuals had any fault in them as far as the foals cared.
A dark grey filly made her choice of Tsan Nalaut, quietly moving to stand beside the once-tormented man with a look of love. Her name was Junryou'Kokuei.
The blind youth, Fading Echo, had a red colt stand by his side, after a soul-bond was sealed. "I want to see what you see," said Chokushi'Hitokage.
The last, but certainly not the least, to be approached, was the halfbreed youth the Kirin called the Sovereign. But Takero's title didn't mean a thing to the brown filly that quickly bit his hand and told him her name was Sennihairu'Hanryo.
And that was the end of it.
"Think we'll ever get to work with divine material again?" Schroeder asked of Devika, as the bay slowly began to clear.
"I don't know about divine," Devika huffed, "but now we get to move demented into this bay."
"Ah, yes, time for the half-hydras," Schroeder nodded, rubbing his chin as his eyes scanned the departing audience, looking for a certain grandmother of a certain xeno-catdragon. "They should be… interesting."
"Hmph. That's one way to put it," snorted the daemon.